It has been a difficult week for all the Party leaders as the narratives they are trying to embed have been tossed about by events out of their control.
In No.10 there is palpable frustration that the “EUrreconcilables” continue to push for more than the PM can give when it comes to Europe. The grumbling of the 95 MPs who signed a letter demanding that Parliament has a veto over EU law dragging attention away from good economic news and his declarations that the UK was open to fracking.
The Deputy Prime Minister has his own troubles to contend with as his week became dominated by the fudged findings of his party’s investigation into the Lord Rennard sexual harassment allegations and the questions it is claimed it raises over the Party’s attitude to women.
Meanwhile the Leader of the Opposition has tried to make a claim for the middle classes only to see the good news on inflation raise doubts about how much legs the cost of living crisis theme has. Although there will be some satisfaction that they managed to force the Conservative Party to defend “bankers’ bonuses” by launching an attack on RBS’ remuneration plans.
But while others flounder the Chancellor is enjoying a week of good form.
First he gets a late Christmas present with news that inflation is at the 2% target for the first time since November 2009.
Then he leaps into the European debate and delivers a timely lecture that the EU needs to “reform or decline” in a competitive global economy and that the rules of the club need reforming.
Next he leaves both the Opposition and his Coalition partners floundering by announcing that the "economy can now afford" to raise the minimum wage above the rate of inflation. A quick glance across social media shows howls of outrage from Liberal Democrats (i.e.. Vince Cable MP) who claim it was their idea all along and even more disdain from Labour politicos who claim that it was actually their idea all along.
It is this that shows the Chancellor at his tactical best. Pulling the rug out from under opponents and denying them some of their most successful arguments against the Conservative Party while pushing the message that "We have worked hard to get to this point and we can start to enjoy the fruits of all that hard work". He’s still got it.
However, while the Punch and Judy show is in full swing, quietly in the background the pithily named “Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill” has passed its Report Stage in the House of Lords and nears Royal Assent.
The Bill is an exercise in “cleaning up politics” or “an object lesson in how not to legislate” depending on your point of view but what is certain is that it has been subject to a huge lobbying campaign (the irony!) by a coalition of charities who object to the reduction of expenditure by charities during an election period before they must be registered with the Electoral Commission as an attack on democracy itself. Let’s hope they aren’t right.
Gareth Morgan
Director, Cavendish Communications